By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republic by G.A. Henty

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By Pike and Dyke: A Tale of the Rise of the Dutch Republicby G. A. HentyThis etext was produced by Martin Robb (MartinRobb@ieee.org)

PREFACE.

MY DEAR LADS,

In all the pages of history there is no record of a struggle sounequal, so obstinately maintained, and so long contested as thatby which the men of Holland and Zeeland won their right to worshipGod in their own way, and also -- although this was but a secondaryconsideration with them -- shook off the yoke of Spain and achievedtheir independence. The incidents of the contest were of a singularlydramatic character. Upon one side was the greatest power of thetime, set in motion by a ruthless bigot, who was determined eitherto force his religion upon the people of the Netherlands, orto utterly exterminate them. Upon the other were a scanty people,fishermen, sailors, and agriculturalists, broken up into communitieswith but little bond of sympathy, and no communication, standingonly on the defensive, and relying solely upon the justice of theircause, their own stout hearts, their noble prince, and their oneally, the ocean. Cruelty, persecution, and massacre had convertedthis race of peace loving workers into heroes capable of the mostsublime self sacrifices. Women and children were imbued with aspirit equal to that of the men, fought as stoutly on the walls,and died as uncomplainingly from famine in the beleaguered towns.The struggle was such a long one that I have found it impossibleto recount all the leading events in the space of a single volume;and, moreover, before the close, my hero, who began as a lad, wouldhave grown into middle age, and it is an established canon in booksfor boys that the hero must himself be young. I have thereforeterminated the story at the murder of William of Orange, and hopein another volume to continue the history, and to recount theprogress of the war, when England, after years of hesitation, threwherself into the fray, and joined Holland in its struggle againstthe power that overshadowed all Europe, alike by its ambition andits bigotry. There has been no need to consult many authorities.Motley in his great work has exhausted the subject, and for allthe historical facts I have relied solely upon him.

Yours very sincerely, G. A. HENTY

CHAPTER I

THE "GOOD VENTURE"

Rotherhithe in the year of 1572 differed very widely from theRotherhithe of today. It was then a scattered village, inhabitedchiefly by a seafaring population. It was here that the captainsof many of the ships that sailed from the port of London had theirabode. Snug cottages with trim gardens lay thickly along the banksof the river, where their owners could sit and watch the vesselspassing up and down or moored in the stream, and discourse witheach other over the hedges as to the way in which they were handled,the smartness of their equipage, whence they had come, or wherethey were going. For the trade of London was comparatively smallin those days, and the skippers as they chatted together could forma shrewd guess from the size and appearance of each ship as to thecountry with which she traded, or whether she was a coaster workingthe eastern or southern ports.

Most of the vessels, indeed, would be recognized and the captainsknown, and hats would be waved and welcomes or adieus shouted asthe vessels passed. There was something that savoured of Hollandin the appearance of Rotherhithe; for it was with the Low Countriesthat the chief trade of England was carried on; and the marinerswho spent their lives in journeying to and fro between London andthe ports of Zeeland, Friesland, and Flanders, who for the most partpicked up the language of the country, and sometimes even broughthome wives from across the sea, naturally learned something fromtheir neighbours. Nowhere, perhaps, in and about London were thehouses so clean and bright, and the gardens so trimly and neatlykept, as in the village of Rotherhithe, and in all Rotherhithe notone was brighter and more comfortable than the abode of CaptainWilliam Martin.

It was low and solid in appearance; the wooden framework wasunusually massive, and there was much quaint carving on the beams.The furniture was heavy and solid, and polished with beeswax untilit shone. The fireplaces were lined with Dutch tiles; the flooringwas of oak, polished as brightly as the furniture. The appointmentsfrom roof to floor were Dutch; and no wonder that this was so, forevery inch of wood in its framework and beams, floor and furniture,and had been brought across from Friesland by William Martin inhis ship, the Good Venture. It had been the dowry he received withhis pretty young wife, Sophie Plomaert.

Sophie was the daughter of a well-to-do worker in wood nearAmsterdam. She was his only daughter, and although he had nothingto say against the English sailor who had won her heart, and whowas chief owner of the ship he commanded, he grieved much thatshe should leave her native land; and he and her three brothersdetermined that she should always bear her former home in herrecollection. They therefore prepared as her wedding gift a facsimileof the home in which she had been born and bred. The furnitureand framework were similar in every particular, and it needed onlythe insertion of the brickwork and plaster when it arrived. Two ofher brothers made the voyage in the Good Venture, and themselvesput the framework, beams, and flooring together, and saw to thecompletion of the house on the strip of ground that William Martinhad purchased on the bank of the river.

Even a large summer house that stood at the end of the garden was areproduction of that upon the bank of the canal at home; and whenall was completed and William Martin brought over his bride shecould almost fancy that she was still at home near Amsterdam. Eversince, she had once a year sailed over in her husband's ship, andspent a few weeks with her kinsfolk. When at home from sea the greatsummer house was a general rendezvous of William Martin's friendsin Rotherhithe, all skippers like himself, some still on activeservice, others, who had retired on their savings; not all, however,were fortunate enough to have houses on the river bank; and thesummer house was therefore useful not only as a place of meetingbut as a lookout at passing ships.

It was a solidly built structure, inclosed on the land side but opentowards the river, where, however, there were folding shutters, sothat in cold weather it could be partially closed up, though stillaffording a sight of the stream. A great Dutch stove stood in onecorner, and in this in winter a roaring fire was kept up. Therewere few men in Rotherhithe so well endowed with this world's goodsas Captain Martin. His father had been a trader in the city, butWilliam's tastes lay towards the sea rather than the shop, and ashe was the youngest of three brothers he had his way in the matter.When he reached the age of twenty-three his father died, and withhis portion of the savings William purchased the principal shareof the Good Venture, which ship he had a few months before come tocommand.

When he married he had received not only his house but a round sumof money as Sophie's portion. With this he could had he liked havepurchased the other shares of the Good Venture; but being, thougha sailor, a prudent man, he did not like to put all his eggs intoone basket, and accordingly bought with it a share in another ship.Three children had been born to William and Sophie Martin -- a boyand two girls. Edward, who was the eldest, was at the time thisstory begins nearly sixteen. He was an active well built youngfellow, and had for five years sailed with his father in the GoodVenture. That vessel was now lying in the stream a quarter ofa mile higher up, having returned from a trip to Holland upon theprevious day. The first evening there had been no callers, for itwas an understood thing at Rotherhithe that a captain on his returnwanted the first evening at home alone with his wife and family; buton the evening of the second day, when William Martin had finishedhis work of seeing to the unloading of his ship, the visitorsbegan to drop in fast, and the summer house was well nigh as fullas it could hold. Mistress Martin, who was now a comely matronof six-and-thirty, busied herself in seeing that the maid and herdaughters, Constance and Janet, supplied the visitors with hornsof home brewed beer, or with strong waters brought from Hollandfor those who preferred them.

"You have been longer away than usual, Captain Martin," one of thevisitors remarked.

"Yes," the skipper replied. "Trade is but dull, and though the GoodVenture bears a good repute for speed and safety, and is seldomkept lying at the wharves for a cargo, we were a week before shewas chartered. I know not what will be the end of it all. I verilybelieve that no people have ever been so cruelly treated for theirconscience' sake since the world began; for you know it is not againstthe King of Spain but against the Inquisition that the oppositionhas been made. The people of the Low Countries know well enoughit would be madness to contend against the power of the greatestcountry in Europe, and to this day they have borne, and are bearing,the cruelty to which they are exposed in quiet despair, and withouta thought of resistance to save their lives. There may have beentumults in some of the towns, as in Antwerp, where the lowest partof the mob went into the cathedrals and churches and destroyed theshrines and images; but as to armed resistance to the Spaniards,there has been none.

"The first expeditions that the Prince of Orange made into thecountry were composed of German mercenaries, with a small body ofexiles. They were scarce joined by any of the country folk. Though,as you know, they gained one little victory, they were nigh allkilled and cut to pieces. So horrible was the slaughter perpetratedby the soldiers of the tyrannical Spanish governor Alva, that whenthe Prince of Orange again marched into the country not a man joinedhim, and he had to fall back without accomplishing anything. Thepeople seemed stunned by despair. Has not the Inquisition condemnedthe whole of the inhabitants of the Netherlands -- save only a fewpersons specially named -- to death as heretics? and has not Philipconfirmed the decree, and ordered it to be carried into instantexecution without regard to age or sex? Were three millions of men,women, and children ever before sentenced to death by one strokeof the pen, only because they refused to change their religion?Every day there are hundreds put to death by the orders of Alva'sBlood Council, as it is called, without even the mockery of atrial."

There was a general murmur of rage and horror from the assembledparty.

"Were I her queen's majesty," an old captain said, striking his fiston the table, "I would declare war with Philip of Spain tomorrow,and would send every man who could bear arms to the Netherlands toaid the people to free themselves from their tyrants.

"Ay, and there is not a Protestant in this land but would gowillingly. To think of such cruelty makes the blood run throughmy veins as if I were a lad again. Why, in Mary's time there weretwo or three score burnt for their religion here in England, and wethought that a terrible thing. But three millions of people! Why,it is as many as we have got in all these islands! What think youof this mates?"

"It is past understanding," another old sailor said. "It is tooawful for us to take in."

"It is said," another put in, "that the King of France has leaguedhimself with Philip of Spain, and that the two have bound themselvesto exterminate the Protestants in all their dominions, and as thatincludes Spain, France, Italy, the Low Countries, and most ofGermany, it stands to reason as we who are Protestants ought tohelp our friends; for you may be sure, neighbours, that if Philipsucceeds in the Low Countries he will never rest until he has triedto bring England under his rule also, and to plant the Inquisitionwith its bonfires and its racks and tortures here."

An angry murmur of assent ran round the circle.

"We would fight them, you may be sure," Captain Martin said, "tothe last; but Spain is a mighty power, and all know that there areno soldiers in Europe can stand against their pikemen. If the LowCountries, which number as many souls as we, cannot make a standagainst them with all their advantages of rivers, and swamps, anddykes, and fortified towns, what chance should we have who havenone of these things? What I say, comrades, is this: we have gotto fight Spain -- you know the grudge Philip bears us -- and it isfar better that we should go over and fight the Spaniards in theLow Countries, side by side with the people there, and with all theadvantages that their rivers and dykes give, and with the comfortthat our wives and children are safe here at home, than wait tillSpain has crushed down the Netherlands and exterminated the people,and is then able, with France as her ally, to turn her whole strengthagainst us. That's what I say."

"And you say right, Captain Martin. If I were the queen's majestyI would send word to Philip tomorrow to call off his black crewof monks and inquisitors. The people of the Netherlands have nothought of resisting the rule of Spain, and would be, as they havebeen before, Philip's obedient subjects, if he would but leavetheir religion alone. It's the doings of the Inquisition that havedriven them to despair. And when one hears what you are telling us,that the king has ordered the whole population to be exterminated-- man, woman, and child -- no wonder they are preparing to fightto the last; for it's better to die fighting a thousand times, thanit is to be roasted alive with your wife and children!"

"I suppose the queen and her councillors see that if she were tomeddle in this business it might cost her her kingdom, and us ourliberty," another captain said. "The Spaniards could put, they say,seventy or eighty thousand trained soldiers in the field, while,except the queen's own bodyguard, there is not a soldier in England;while their navy is big enough to take the fifteen or twenty shipsthe queen has, and to break them up to burn their galley fires."

"That is all true enough," Captain Martin agreed; "but our Englishmen have fought well on the plains of France before now, and I don'tbelieve we should fight worse today. We beat the French when theywere ten to one against us over and over, and what our fathers didwe can do. What you say about the navy is true also. They have abig fleet, and we have no vessels worth speaking about, but we areas good sailors as the Spaniards any day, and as good fighters;and though I am not saying we could stop their fleet if it camesailing up the Thames, I believe when they landed we should showthem that we were as good men as they. They might bring seventythousand soldiers, but there would be seven hundred thousandEnglishmen to meet; and if we had but sticks and stones to fightwith, they would not find that they would have an easy victory."

"Yes, that's what you think and I think, neighbour; but, you see,we have not got the responsibility of it. The queen has to thinkfor us all. Though I for one would be right glad if she gave theword for war, she may well hesitate before she takes a step thatmight bring ruin, and worse than ruin, upon all her subjects.We must own, too, that much as we feel for the people of the LowCountries in their distress, they have not always acted wisely.That they should take up arms against these cruel tyrants, evenif they had no chance of beating them, is what we all agree wouldbe right and natural; but when the mob of Antwerp broke into thecathedral, and destroyed the altars and carvings, and tore up thevestments, and threw down the Manes and the saints, and then did thesame in the other churches in the town and in the country round,they behaved worse than children, and showed themselves as intolerantand bigoted as the Spaniards themselves. They angered Philip beyondhope of forgiveness, and gave him something like an excuse for hiscruelties towards them."

"Ay, ay, that was a bad business," Captain Martin agreed; "a verybad business, comrade. And although these things were done by a merehandful of the scum of the town the respectable citizens raised nohand to stop it, although they can turn out the town guard readilyenough to put a stop to a quarrel between the members of two ofthe guilds. There were plenty of men who have banded themselvestogether under the name of 'the beggars,' and swore to fight fortheir religion, to have put these fellows down if they had chosen.They did not choose, and now Philip's vengeance will fall on themall alike."

"Well, what think you of this business, Ned?" one of the captainssaid, turning to the lad who was standing in a corner, remaining, asin duty bound, silent in the presence of his elders until addressed.

"Were I a Dutchman, and living under such a tyranny," Ned saidpassionately, "I would rise and fight to the death rather than seemy family martyred. If none other would rise with me, I would takea sword and go out and slay the first Spaniard I met, and againanother, until I was killed."

"Bravo, Ned! Well spoken, lad!" three or four of the captains said;but his father shook his head.

"Those are the words of hot youth, Ned; and were you living thereyou would do as the others -- keep quiet till the executionerscame to drag you away, seeing that did you, as you say you would,use a knife against a Spaniard, it would give the butchers a pretextfor the slaughtering of hundreds of innocent people."

The lad looked down abashed at the reproof, then he said: "Well,father, if I could not rise in arms or slay a Spaniard and thenbe killed, I would leave my home and join the sea beggars under LaMarck."

"There is more reason in that," his father replied; "though LaMarck is a ferocious noble, and his followers make not very closeinquiry whether the ships they attack are Spanish or those of otherpeople. Still it is hard for a man to starve; and when time passesand they can light upon no Spanish merchantmen, one cannot blamethem too sorely if they take what they require out of some otherpassing ship. But there is reason at the bottom of what you say.Did the men of the sea coast, seeing that their lives and those oftheir families are now at the mercy of the Spaniards, take to theirships with those dear to them and continually harass the Spaniards,they could work them great harm, and it would need a large fleet tooverpower them, and that with great difficulty, seeing that theyknow the coast and all the rivers and channels, and could takerefuge in shallows where the Spaniards could not follow them. Atpresent it seems to me the people are in such depths of despair,that they have not heart for any such enterprise. But I believe thatsome day or other the impulse will be given -- some more wholesalebutchery than usual will goad them to madness, or the words of somepatriot wake them into action, and then they will rise as one manand fight until utterly destroyed, for that they can in the endtriumph over Spain is more than any human being can hope."

"Then they must be speedy about it, friend Martin," another said."They say that eighty thousand have been put to death one wayor another since Alva came into his government. Another ten yearsand there will be scarce an able bodied man remaining in the LowCountry. By the way, you were talking of the beggars of the sea.Their fleet is lying at present at Dover, and it is said that theSpanish ambassador is making grave complaints to the queen on thepart of his master against giving shelter to these men, whom hebrands as not only enemies of Spain, but as pirates and robbers ofthe sea."

"I was talking with Master Sheepshanks," another mariner put in,"whose ships I sailed for thirty years, and who is an alderman andknows what is going on, and he told me that from what he hears itis like enough that the queen will yield to the Spanish request. Solong as she chooses to remain friends with Spain openly, whateverher thoughts and opinions may be, she can scarcely allow her portsto be used by the enemies of Philip. It must go sorely againsther high spirit; but till she and her council resolve that Englandshall brave the whole strength of Spain, she cannot disregard theremonstrances of Philip. It is a bad business, neighbours, a badbusiness; and the sooner it comes to an end the better. No onedoubts that we shall have to fight Spain one of these days, andI say that it were better to fight while our brethren of the LowCountries can fight by our side, than to wait till Spain, havingexterminated them, can turn her whole power against us."

There was a general chorus of assent, and then the subject changedto the rates of freight to the northern ports. The grievous need forthe better marking of shallows and dangers, the rights of seamen,wages, and other matters, were discussed until the assembly brokeup. Ned's sisters joined him in the garden.

"I hear, Constance," the boy said to the elder, "there has been nonews from our grandfather and uncles since we have been away."

"No word whatever, Ned. Our mother does not say much, but I knowshe is greatly troubled and anxious about it."

"That she may well be, Constance, seeing that neither quiet conductnor feebleness nor aught else avail to protect any from the rageof the Spaniards. You who stay at home here only hear general talesof the cruelties done across the sea, but if you heard the talesthat we do at their ports they would drive you almost to madness.Not that we hear much, for we have to keep on board our ships, andmay not land or mingle with the people; but we learn enough fromthe merchants who come on board to see about the landing of theirgoods to make our blood boil. They do right to prevent our landing;for so fired is the sailors' blood by these tales of massacre, thatwere they to go ashore they would, I am sure, be speedily embroiledwith the Spaniards.

"You see how angered these friends of our father are who areEnglishmen, and have no Dutch blood in their veins, and who feelonly because they are touched by these cruelties, and becausethe people of the Low Country are Protestants; but with us it isdifferent, our mother is one of these persecuted people, and webelong to them as much as to England. We have friends and relationsthere who are in sore peril, and who may for aught we know havealready fallen victims to the cruelty of the Spaniards. Had Imy will I would join the beggars of the sea, or I would ship withDrake or Cavendish and fight the Spaniards in the Indian seas. Theysay that there Englishmen are proving themselves better men thanthese haughty dons."

"It is very sad," Constance said; "but what can be done?"

"Something must be done soon," Ned replied gloomily. "Things cannotgo on as they are. So terrible is the state of things, so heavy thetaxation, that in many towns all trade is suspended. In Brussels,I hear, Alva's own capital, the brewers have refused to brew, thebakers to bake, the tapsters to draw liquors. The city swarms withmultitudes of men thrown out of employment. The Spanish soldiersthemselves have long been without pay, for Alva thinks of nothingbut bloodshed. Consequently they are insolent to their officers, carelittle for order, and insult and rob the citizens in the streets.Assuredly something must come of this ere long; and the people'sdespair will become a mad fury. If they rise, Constance, and myfather does not say nay, I will assuredly join them and do my best.

"I do not believe that the queen will forbid her subjects to givetheir aid to the people of the Netherlands; for she allowed many tofight in France for Conde and the Protestants against the Guises,and she will surely do the same now, since the sufferings of ourbrothers in the Netherlands have touched the nation far more keenlythan did those of the Huguenots in France. I am sixteen now, andmy father says that in another year he will rate me as his secondmate, and methinks that there are not many men on board who can pullmore strongly a rope, or work more stoutly at the capstan when weheave our anchor. Besides, as we all talk Dutch as well as English,I should be of more use than men who know nought of the languageof the country."

Constance shook her head. "I do not think, Ned, that our fatherwould give you leave, at any rate not until you have grown up intoa man. He looks to having you with him, and to your succeedinghim some day in the command of the Good Venture, while he remainsquietly at home with our mother."

Ned agreed with a sigh. "I fear that you are right, Constance, andthat I shall have to stick to my trade of sailoring; but if thepeople of the Netherlands rise against their tyrants, it would behard to be sailing backwards and forwards doing a peaceful tradebetween London and Holland whilst our friends and relatives arebattling for their lives."

A fortnight later, the Good Venture filled up her hold with a cargofor Brill, a port where the united Rhine, Waal, and Maas flow intothe sea. On the day before she sailed a proclamation was issuedby the queen forbidding any of her subjects to supply De la Marckand his sailors with meat, bread, or beer. The passage down theriver was slow, for the winds were contrary, and it was ten daysafterwards, the 31st of March, when they entered the broad mouthof the river and dropped anchor off the town of Brill. It was latein the evening when they arrived. In the morning an officer cameoff to demand the usual papers and documents, and it was not untilnearly two o'clock that a boat came out with the necessary permissionfor the ship to warp up to the wharves and discharge her cargo.

Just as Captain Martin was giving the order for the capstan barsto be manned, a fleet of some twenty-four ships suddenly appearedround the seaward point of the land.

"Wait a moment, lads," the captain said, "half an hour will make nogreat difference in our landing. We may as well wait and see whatis the meaning of this fleet. They do not look to me to be Spaniards,nor seem to be a mere trading fleet. I should not wonder if theyare the beggars of the sea, who have been forced to leave Dover,starved out from the effect of the queen's proclamation, and havenow come here to pick up any Spaniard they may meet sailing out."

The fleet dropped anchor at about half a mile from the town. Justas they did so, a ferryman named Koppelstok, who was carryingpassengers across from the town of Maaslandluis, a town on theopposite bank a mile and a half away, was passing close by the GoodVenture.

"What think you of yon ships?" the ferryman shouted to CaptainMartin.

"I believe they must be the beggars of the sea," the captain replied."An order had been issued before I left London that they were notto be supplied with provisions, and they would therefore have hadto put out from Dover. This may well enough be them."

An exclamation of alarm broke from the passengers, for the seabeggars were almost as much feared by their own countrymen as by theSpaniards, the latter having spared no pains in spreading tales totheir disadvantage. As soon as the ferryman had landed his passengershe rowed boldly out towards the fleet, having nothing of which hecould be plundered, and being secretly well disposed towards thebeggars. The first ship he hailed was that commanded by Williamde Blois, Lord of Treslong, who was well known at Brill, where hisfather had at one time been governor.

His brother had been executed by the Duke of Alva four years before,and he had himself fought by the side of Count Louis of Nassau,brother to the Prince of Orange, in the campaign that had terminatedso disastrously, and though covered with wounds had been one ofthe few who had escaped from the terrible carnage that followed thedefeat at Jemmingen. After that disaster he had taken to the sea,and was one of the most famous of the captains of De la Marck, whohad received a commission of admiral from the Prince of Orange.

"We are starving, Koppelstok; can you inform us how we can get somefood? We have picked up two Spanish traders on our way here fromDover, but our larders were emptied before we sailed, and we foundbut scant supply on board our prizes."

"There is plenty in the town of Brill," the ferryman said; "but nonethat I know of elsewhere. That English brig lying there at anchormay have a few loaves on board."

"That will not be much," William de Blois replied, "among fivehundred men, still it will be better than nothing. Will you rowand ask them if they will sell to us?"

"You had best send a strongly armed crew," Koppelstok replied."You know the English are well disposed towards us, and the captainwould doubtless give you all the provisions he had to spare; but todo so would be to ruin him with the Spaniards, who might confiscatehis ship. It were best that you should make a show of force, sothat he could plead that he did but yield to necessity."

Accordingly a boat with ten men rowed to the brig, Koppelstokaccompanying it. The latter climbed on to the deck.

"We mean you no harm, captain," he said; "but the men on board theseships are well nigh starving. The Sieur de Treslong has given mea purse to pay for all that you can sell us, but thinking that youmight be blamed for having dealings with him by the authorities ofthe town, he sent these armed men with me in order that if questionedyou could reply that they came forcibly on board."

"I will willingly let you have all the provisions I have on board,"Captain Martin said; "though these will go but a little way amongso many, seeing that I only carry stores sufficient for consumptionon board during my voyages."

A cask of salt beef was hoisted up on deck, with a sack of biscuits,four cheeses, and a side of bacon. Captain Martin refused anypayment.

"No," he said, "my wife comes from these parts, and my heart is withthe patriots. Will you tell Sieur de Treslong that Captain Martinof the Good Venture is happy to do the best in his power for himand his brave followers. That, Ned," he observed, turning to hisson as the boat rowed away, "is a stroke of good policy. The valueof the goods is small, but just at this moment they are worth muchto those to whom I have given them. In the first place, you see,we have given aid to the good cause, in the second we have earnedthe gratitude of the beggars of the sea, and I shall be much morecomfortable if I run among them in the future than I should havedone in the past. The freedom to come and go without molestationby the sea beggars is cheaply purchased at the price of provisionswhich do not cost many crowns."

On regaining the Sieur de Treslong's ship some of the provisionswere at once served out among the men, and the rest sent off amongother ships, and William de Blois took Koppelstok with him on boardthe admiral's vessel.

"Well, De Blois, what do you counsel in this extremity?" De laMarck asked.

"I advise," the Lord of Treslong replied, "that we at once send amessage to the town demanding its surrender."

"Are you joking or mad, Treslong?" the admiral asked in surprise."Why, we can scarce muster four hundred men, and the town is wellwalled and fortified."

"There are no Spanish troops here, admiral, and if we put a boldfront on the matter we may frighten the burghers into submission.This man says he would be willing to carry the summons. He says thenews as to who we are has already reached them by some passengershe landed before he came out, and he doubts not they are in a rarepanic."

"Well, we can try," the admiral said, laughing; "it is clear wemust eat, even if we have to fight for it; and hungry as we allare, we do not want to wait."

Treslong gave his ring to Koppelstok to show as his authority, andthe fisherman at once rowed ashore. Stating that the beggars ofthe sea were determined to take the town, he made his way throughthe crowd of inhabitants who had assembled at the landing place,and then pushed on to the town hall, where the magistrates wereassembled. He informed them that he had been sent by the Admiral ofthe Fleet and the Lord of Treslong, who was well known to them, todemand that two commissioners should be sent out to them on behalfof the city to confer with him. The only object of those who senthim was to free the land from the crushing taxes, and to overthrowthe tyranny of Alva and the Spaniards. He was asked by the magistrateswhat force De la Marck had at his disposal, and replied carelesslythat he could not say exactly, but that there might be five thousandin all.

This statement completed the dismay that had been caused at thearrival of the fleet. The magistrates agreed that it would be madnessto resist, and determined to fly at once. With much difficulty twoof them were persuaded to go out to the ship as deputies, and assoon as they set off most of the leading burghers prepared instantlyfor flight. The deputies on arriving on board were assured that noinjury was intended to the citizens or private property, but onlythe overthrow of Alva's government, and two hours were given themto decide upon the surrender of the town.

During this two hours almost all the inhabitants left the town,taking with them their most valuable property. At the expiration ofthe time the beggars landed. A few of those remaining in the citymade a faint attempt at resistance; but Treslong forced an entranceby the southern gate, and De la Marck made a bonfire against thenorthern gate and then battered it down with the end of an oldmast. Thus the patriots achieved the capture of the first town, andcommenced the long war that was to end only with the establishmentof the Free Republic of the Netherlands. No harm was done to suchof the inhabitants of the town as remained. The conquerors establishedthemselves in the best of the deserted houses; they then set to workto plunder the churches. The altars and images were all destroyed;the rich furniture, the sacred vessels, and the gorgeous vestmentswere appropriated to private use. Thirteen unfortunates, amongthem some priests who had been unable to effect their escape, wereseized and put to death by De la Marck.

He had received the strictest orders from the Prince of Orange torespect the ships of all neutral nations, and to behave courteouslyand kindly to all captives he might take. Neither of these injunctionswere obeyed. De la Marck was a wild and sanguinary noble; he hadtaken a vow upon hearing of the death of his relative, the Princeof Egmont, who had been executed by Alva, that he would neithercut his hair nor his beard until that murder should be revenged,and had sworn to wreak upon Alva and upon Popery the deep vengeancethat the nobles and peoples of the Netherlands owed them. This vowhe kept to the letter, and his ferocious conduct to all priestsand Spaniards who fell into his hands deeply sullied the cause forwhich he fought.

Upon the day after the capture of the city, the Good Venture wentinto the port. The inhabitants, as soon as they learned that thebeggars of the sea respected the life and property of the citizens,returned in large numbers, and trade was soon re-established.Having taken the place, and secured the plunder of the churchesand monasteries, De la Marck would have sailed away upon otherexcursions had not the Sieur de Treslong pointed out to him theimportance of Brill to the cause, and persuaded him to hold theplace until he heard from the Prince of Orange.

CHAPTER II

TERRIBLE NEWS

A few days after Brill had been so boldly captured, Count Bossuadvanced from Utrecht against it. The sea beggars, confident asthey were as to their power of meeting the Spaniards on the seas,knew that on dry land they were no match for the well trainedpikemen; they therefore kept within the walls. A carpenter, however,belonging to the town, who had long been a secret partisan of thePrince of Orange, seized an axe, dashed into the water, and swamto the sluice and burst open the gates with a few sturdy blows.The sea poured in and speedily covered the land on the north sideof the city.

The Spaniards advanced along the dyke to the southern gate, butthe sea beggars had hastily moved most of the cannon on the wallto that point, and received the Spaniards with so hot a fire thatthey hesitated. In the meantime the Lord of Treslong and anotherofficer had filled two boats with men and rowed out to the shipsthat had brought the enemy, cut some adrift, and set others on fire.The Spaniards at the southern gate lost heart; they were exposedto a hot fire, which they were unable to return. On one side theysaw the water rapidly rising above the level of the dyke on whichthey stood, on the other they perceived their only means of retreatthreatened. They turned, and in desperate haste retreated alongthe causeway now under water. In their haste many slipped off theroad and were drowned, others fell and were smothered in the water,and the rest succeeded in reaching such of the vessels as werestill untouched, and with all speed returned to Utrecht.

From the highest point of the masts to which they could climb,Captain Martin, Ned, and the crew watched the struggle. Ned hadbegged his father to let him go along the walls to the south gateto see the conflict, but Captain Martin refused.

"We know not what the upshot of the business may be," he said. "Ifthe Spaniards, which is likely enough, take the place, they willslaughter all they meet, and will not trouble themselves withquestioning anyone whether he is a combatant or a spectator. Besides,when they have once taken the town, they will question all here,and it would be well that I should be able to say that not onlydid we hold ourselves neutral in the affair, but that none of myequipage had set foot on shore today. Lastly, it is my purpose andhope if the Spaniards capture the place, to take advantage of thefact that all will be absorbed in the work of plunder, and to slipmy hawsers and make off. Wind and tide are both favourable, anddoubtless the crews of their ships will, for the most part, landto take part in the sack as soon as the town is taken."

However, as it turned out, there was no need of these precautions;the beggars were victorious and the Spaniards in full flight,and great was the rejoicing in Brill at this check which they hadinflicted upon their oppressors. Bossu, retiring from Brill, tookhis way towards Rotterdam. He found its gates closed; the authoritiesrefused to submit to his demands or to admit a garrison. Theydeclared they were perfectly loyal, and needed no body of Spanishtroops to keep them in order. Bossu requested permission for histroops to pass through the city without halting. This was grantedby the magistrates on condition that only a corporal's company shouldbe admitted at a time. Bossu signed an agreement to this effect.But throughout the whole trouble the Spaniards never once respectedthe conditions they had made and sworn to with the inhabitants,and no sooner were the gates opened than the whole force rushed in,and the usual work of slaughter, atrocity, and plunder commenced.Within a few minutes four hundred citizens were murdered, andcountless outrages and cruelties perpetrated upon the inhabitants.

Captain Martin completed the discharging of his cargo two days afterBossu made his ineffectual attempt upon the town. A messenger hadarrived that morning from Flushing, with news that as soon as thecapture of Brill had become known in that seaport, the Seigneur deHerpt had excited the burghers to drive the small Spanish garrisonfrom the town.

Scarcely had they done so when a large reinforcement of the enemyarrived before the walls, having been despatched there by Alva, tocomplete the fortress that had been commenced to secure the possessionof this important port at the mouth of the Western Scheldt. Herptpersuaded the burghers that it was too late to draw back now. Theyhad done enough to draw the vengeance of the Spaniards upon them;their only hope now was to resist to the last. A half witted manin the crowd offered, if any one would give him a pot of beer, toascend the ramparts and fire two pieces of artillery at the Spanishships.

The offer was accepted, and the man ran up to the ramparts anddischarged the guns. A sudden panic seized the Spaniards, and thewhole fleet sailed away at once in the direction of Middelburg.

The governor of the island next day arrived at Flushing and wasat once admitted. He called the citizens together to the marketplace and there addressed them, beseeching them to return to theirallegiance, assuring them that if they did so the king, who was thebest natured prince in all Christendom, would forget and forgivetheir offenses. The effect of the governor's oratory was sadly marredby the interruptions of De Herpt and his adherents, who remindedthe people of the fate that had befallen other towns that hadrevolted, and scoffed at such good nature as the king displayed inthe scores of executions daily taking place throughout the country.

The governor, finding his efforts unavailing, had left the town,and as soon as he did so the messenger was sent off to Brill, sayingthat the inhabitants of Flushing were willing to provide arms andammunition if they would send them men experienced in partisanwarfare. Two hundred of the beggars, under the command of Treslong,accordingly started the next day for Flushing. The Good Venturethrew off her hawsers from the wharf at about the same time thatthese were starting, and for some time kept company with them.

"Did one ever see such a wild crew?" Captain Martin said, shakinghis head. "Never, I believe, did such a party set out upon a warlikeadventure."

The appearance of Treslong's followers was indeed extraordinary.Every man was attired in the gorgeous vestments of the plunderedchurches -- in gold and embroidered cassocks, glittering robes, orthe sombre cowls and garments of Capuchin friars. As they sailedalong their wild sea songs rose in the air, mingled with shoutsfor vengeance on the Spaniards and the Papacy.

"One would not think that this ribald crew could fight," CaptainMartin went on; "but there is no doubt they will do so. They mustnot be blamed altogether; they are half maddened by the miseriesand cruelties endured by their friends and relations at the handsof the Spaniards. I knew that when at last the people rose thecombat would be a terrible one, and that they would answer crueltyby cruelty, blood by blood. The Prince of Orange, as all men know,is one of the most clement and gentle of rulers. All his ordinancesenjoin gentle treatment of prisoners, and he has promised everyone over and over again complete toleration in the exercise ofreligion; but though he may forgive and forget, the people willnot.

"It is the Catholic church that has been their oppressor. In itsname tens of thousands have been murdered, and I fear that theslaughter of those priests at Brill is but the first of a seriesof bloody reprisals that will take place wherever the people getthe upper hand."

A fresh instance of this was shown a few hours after the GoodVenture put into Flushing. A ship arrived in port, bringing withit Pacheco, the Duke of Alva's chief engineer, an architect ofthe highest reputation. He had been despatched by the duke to takecharge of the new works that the soldiers had been sent to execute,and ignorant of what had taken place he landed at the port. He wasat once seized by the mob. An officer, willing to save his life,took him from their hands and conducted him to the prison; but thepopulace were clamorous for his blood, and Treslong was willingenough to satisfy them and to avenge upon Alva's favourite officerthe murder of his brother by Alva's orders. The unfortunate officerwas therefore condemned to be hung, and the sentence was carriedinto effect the same day.

A few days later an officer named Zeraerts arrived at Flushing witha commission from the Prince of Orange as Governor of the Islandof Walcheren. He was attended by a small body of French infantry,and the force under his command speedily increased; for as soonas it was known in England that Brill and Flushing had thrown offthe authority of the Spaniards, volunteers from England began toarrive in considerable numbers to aid their fellow Protestants inthe struggle before them.

The Good Venture had stayed only a few hours in Flushing. Inthe present condition of affairs there was no chance of obtaininga cargo there, and Captain Martin therefore thought it better notto waste time, but to proceed at once to England in order to learnthe intention of the merchants for whom he generally worked as towhat could be done under the changed state of circumstances thathad arisen.

Every day brought news of the extension of the rising. The Spanishtroops lay for the most part in Flanders, and effectually deterredthe citizens of the Flemish towns from revolting; but throughoutHolland, Zeeland, and Friesland the flame of revolt spread rapidly.The news that Brill and Flushing had thrown off the Spanish yokefired every heart. It was the signal for which all had been so longwaiting. They knew how desperately Spain would strive to regain hergrip upon the Netherlands, how terrible would be her vengeance ifshe conquered; but all felt that it was better to die sword in handthan to be murdered piecemeal. And accordingly town after town rose,expelled the authorities appointed by Spain and the small Spanishgarrisons, and in three months after the rising of Brill the greaterpart of the maritime provinces were free. Some towns, however, stillremained faithful to Spain. Prominent among these was Amsterdam, agreat trading city, which feared the ruin that opposition to Alvamight bring upon it, more than the shame of standing aloof whentheir fellow countrymen were fighting for freedom and the right toworship God in their own way.

On the 23rd of May, Louis of Nassau, with a body of troops fromFrance, captured the important town of Mons by surprise, but wasat once beleaguered there by a Spanish army. In June the States ofHolland assembled at Dort and formally renounced the authority ofthe Duke of Alva, and declared the Prince of Orange, the royallyappointed stadtholder, the only legal representative of the Spanishcrown in their country; and in reply to an eloquent address ofSainte Aldegonde, the prince's representative, voted a considerablesum of money for the payment of the army the prince was raisingin Germany. On the 19th of June a serious misfortune befell thepatriot cause. A reinforcement of Huguenot troops, on the way tosuccour the garrison of Mons, were met and cut to pieces by theSpaniards, and Count Louis, who had been led by the French King toexpect ample succour and assistance from him, was left to his fate.

On the 7th of July the Prince of Orange crossed the Rhine with14,000 foot and 7,000 horse. He advanced but a short distance whenthe troops mutinied in consequence of their pay being in arrears,and he was detained four weeks until the cities of Holland guaranteedtheir payment for three months. A few cities opened their gatesto him; but they were for the most part unimportant places, andMechlin was the only large town that admitted his troops. Stillhe pressed on toward Mons, expecting daily to be joined by 12,000French infantry and 3,000 cavalry under the command of AdmiralColigny.

The prince, who seldom permitted himself to be sanguine, believedthat the goal of his hopes was reached, and that he should now beable to drive the Spaniards from the Netherlands. But as he wasmarching forward he received tidings that showed him that all hisplans were shattered, and that the prospects were darker than theyhad ever before been. While the King of France had throughout beenencouraging the revolted Netherlanders, and had authorized hisminister to march with an army to their assistance, he was preparingfor a deed that would be the blackest in history, were it notthat its horrors are less appalling than those inflicted upon thecaptured cities of the Netherlands by Alva. On St. Bartholomew's Evethere was a general massacre of the Protestants in Paris, followedby similar massacres throughout France, the number of victims beingvariously estimated at from twenty-five to a hundred thousand.

Protestant Europe was filled with horror at this terrible crime.Philip of Spain was filled with equal delight. Not only was thedanger that seemed to threaten him in the Netherlands at once andforever, as he believed, at an end, but he saw in this destructionof the Protestants of France a great step in the direction he hadso much at heart -- the entire extirpation of heretics throughoutEurope. He wrote letters of the warmest congratulation to the Kingof France, with whom he had formerly been at enmity; while thePope, accompanied by his cardinals, went to the church of St. Markto render thanks to God for the grace thus singularly vouchsafedto the Holy See and to all Christendom. To the Prince of Orangethe news came as a thunderclap. His troops wholly lost heart, andrefused to keep the field. The prince himself almost lost his lifeat the hands of the mutineers, and at last, crossing the Rhine, hedisbanded his army and went almost alone to Holland to share thefate of the provinces that adhered to him. He went there expectingand prepared to die.

"There I will make my sepulcher," was his expression in the letterin which he announced his intention to his brother. Count Louisof Nassau had now nothing left before him but to surrender. Hissoldiers, almost entirely French, refused any longer to resist,now that the king had changed his intentions, and the city wassurrendered, the garrison being allowed to retire with their weapons.

The terms of the capitulation were so far respected; but insteadof the terms respecting the townspeople being adhered to, a councilof blood was set up, and for many months from ten to twenty of theinhabitants were hanged, burned, or beheaded every day. The newsof the massacre of St. Bartholomew, of the treachery of the Kingof France towards the inhabitants of the Netherlands, and of thehorrible cruelties perpetrated upon the inhabitants of Mechlin andother towns that had opened their gates to the Prince of Orange,excited the most intense indignation among the people of England.

The queen put on mourning, but was no more inclined than beforeto render any really efficient aid to the Netherlands. She allowedvolunteers to pass over, furnished some meagre sums of money, butheld aloof from any open participation in the war; for if before,when France was supposed to be favourable to the Netherlands andhostile to Spain, she felt unequal to a war with the latter power,still less could she hope to cope with Spain when the deed of St.Bartholomew had reunited the two Catholic monarchs.

Captain Martin, married to a native of the Netherlands, and mixingconstantly with the people in his trade, was naturally ardent, evenbeyond the majority of his countrymen, in their cause, and overand over again declared that were he sailing by when a sea fightwas going on between the Dutch and the Spaniards, he would pulldown his English flag, hoist that of Holland, and join in the fray;and Ned, as was to be expected, shared to the utmost his father'sfeelings on the subject. Early in September the Good Venture startedwith a cargo for Amsterdam, a city that almost alone in Hollandadhered to the Spanish cause.

Sophie Martin was pleased when she heard that this was the ship'sdestination; for she was very anxious as to the safety of herfather and brothers, from whom she had not heard for a long time.Postage was dear and mails irregular. Few letters were written orreceived by people in England, still more seldom letters sent acrossthe sea. There would, therefore, under the ordinary circumstances,have been no cause whatever for uneasiness had years elapsed withoutnews coming from Amsterdam; and, indeed, during her whole marriedlife Sophie Martin had only received one or two letters by post fromher former home, although many communications had been brought byfriends of her husband's trading there. But as many weeks seldompassed without the Good Venture herself going into Amsterdam, forthat town was one of the great trading centres of Holland, therewas small occasion for letters to pass. It happened, however, thatfrom one cause or another, eighteen months had passed since CaptainMartin's business had taken him to that port, and no letter hadcome either by post or hand during that time.

None who had friends in the Netherlands could feel assured thatthese must, either from their station or qualities, be safe fromthe storm that was sweeping over the country. The poor equallywith the rich, the artisan equally with the noble, was liable tobecome a victim of Alva's Council of Blood. The net was drawn soas to catch all classes and conditions; and although it was uponthe Protestants that his fury chiefly fell, the Catholics sufferedtoo, for pretexts were always at hand upon which these could alsobe condemned.

The Netherlands swarmed with spies and informers, and a singleunguarded expression of opinion was sufficient to send a man tothe block. And, indeed, in a vast number of cases, private animositywas the cause of the denunciation; for any accusation could besafely made where there was no trial, and the victims were oftenin complete ignorance as to the nature of the supposed crime forwhich they were seized and dragged away to execution.

When the vessel sailed Sophie Martin gave her husband a letterto her father and brothers, begging them to follow the example ofthousands of their countrymen, and to leave the land where life andproperty were no longer safe, and to come over to London. They wouldhave no difficulty in procuring work there, and could establishthemselves in business and do as well as they had been doing athome.

They had, she knew, money laid by in London; for after the troublesbegan her father had sold off the houses and other property he hadpurchased with his savings, and had transmitted the result to Englandby her husband, who had intrusted it for investment to a leadingcitizen with whom he did business. As this represented not onlyher father's accumulations but those of her brothers who workedas partners with him, it amounted to a sum that in those days wasregarded as considerable.

"I feel anxious, Ned," Captain Martin said as he sailed up the ZuiderZee towards the city, "as to what has befallen your grandfather anduncles. I have always made the best of the matter to your mother,but I cannot conceal from myself that harm may have befallen them.It is strange that no message has come to us through any of ourfriends trading with the town, for your uncles know many of mycomrades and can see their names in the shipping lists when theyarrive. They would have known how anxious your mother would beat the news of the devil's work that is going on here, and, beingalways tender and thoughtful for her, would surely have sent hernews of them from time to time as they had a chance. I sorely fearthat something must have happened. Your uncles are prudent men,going about their work and interfering with none; but they are men,too, who speak their mind, and would not, like many, make a falseshow of affection when they feel none.

"Well, well; we shall soon know. As soon as the ship is moored andmy papers are declared in order, you and I will go over to Vordwykand see how they are faring. I think not that they will followyour mother's advice and sail over with us; for it was but the lasttime I saw them that they spoke bitterly against the emigrants,and said that every man who could bear arms should, however greathis danger, wait and bide the time until there was a chance to strikefor his religion and country. They are sturdy men these Dutchmen,and not readily turned from an opinion they have taken up; andalthough I shall do my best to back up your mother's letter by myarguments, I have but small hope that I shall prevail with them."

In the evening they were moored alongside the quays of Amsterdam,at that time one of the busiest cities in Europe. Its trade wasgreat, the wealth of its citizens immense. It contained a large numberof monasteries, its authorities were all Catholics and devoted tothe cause of Spain, and although there were a great many well wishersto the cause of freedom within its walls, these were powerless totake action, and the movement which, after the capture of Brilland Flushing, had caused almost all the towns of Holland to declarefor the Prince of Orange, found no echo in Amsterdam. The vesselanchored outside the port, and the next morning after their paperswere examined and found in order she ranged up alongside the crowdedtiers of shipping. Captain Martin went on shore with Ned, visitedthe merchants to whom his cargo was consigned, and told them thathe should begin to unload the next day.

He then started with Ned to walk to Vordwyk, which lay two milesaway. On reaching the village they stopped suddenly. The roof ofthe house they had so often visited was gone, its walls blackenedby fire. After the first exclamation of surprise and regret theywalked forward until opposite the ruin, and stood gazing at it.Then Captain Martin stepped up to a villager, who was standing atthe door of his shop, and asked him when did this happen, what hadbecome of the old man Plomaert?

"You are his son-in-law, are you not?" the man asked in reply. "Ihave seen you here at various times." Captain Martin nodded. Theman looked round cautiously to see that none were within sound ofhis voice.

"You have not heard, then?" he said. "It was a terrible business,though we are growing used to it now. One day, it is some eightmonths since, a party of soldiers came from Amsterdam and hauledaway my neighbour Plomaert and his three sons. They were denouncedas having attended the field preaching a year ago, and you knowwhat that means."

The man nodded. "They were hung together next day, together withGertrude, the wife of the eldest brother. Johan was, as you know,unmarried. Elizabeth, the wife of Louis, lay ill at the time, ordoubtless she would have fared the same as the rest. She has gonewith her two daughters to Haarlem, where her family live. All theirproperty was, of course, seized and confiscated, and the house burntdown; for, as you know, they all lived together. Now, my friend,I will leave you. I dare not ask you in for I know not who may bewatching us, and to entertain even the brother-in-law of men whohave been sent to the gallows might well cost a man his life inour days."

Then Captain Martin's grief and passion found vent in words, andhe roundly cursed the Spaniards and their works, regardless ofwho might hear him; then he entered the garden, visited the summerhouse where he had so often talked with the old man and his sons,and then sat down and gave full vent to his grief. Ned felt almoststunned by the news; being so often away at sea he had never giventhe fact that so long a time had elapsed since his mother hadreceived a letter from her family much thought. It had, indeed,been mentioned before him; but, knowing the disturbed state of thecountry, it had seemed to him natural enough that his uncles shouldhave had much to think of and trouble them, and might well haveno time for writing letters. His father's words the evening beforehad for the first time excited a feeling of real uneasiness aboutthem, and the shock caused by the sight of the ruined house, andthe news that his grandfather, his three uncles, and one of hisaunts, had been murdered by the Spaniards, completely overwhelmedhim.

"Let us be going, Ned," his father said at last; "there is nothingfor us to do here, let us get back to our ship. I am a peaceableman, Ned, but I feel now as if I could join the beggars of thesea, and go with them in slaying every Spaniard who fell into theirhands. This will be terrible news for your mother, lad."

"It will indeed," Ned replied. "Oh, father, I wish you would let mestay here and join the prince's bands and fight for their freedom.There were English volunteers coming out to Brill and Flushing whenwe sailed from the Thames, and if they come to fight for Holland whohave no tie in blood, why should not I who am Dutch by my mother'sside and whose relations have been murdered?"

"We will talk of it later on, Ned," his father said. "You are youngyet for such rough work as this, and this is no common war. Thereis no quarter given here, it is a fight to the death. The Spaniardsslaughter the Protestants like wild beasts, and like wild beaststhey will defend themselves. But if this war goes on till you havegained your full strength and sinew I will not say you nay. As yousay, our people at home are ready to embark in a war for the causeof liberty and religion, did the queen but give the word; and whenothers, fired solely by horror at the Spaniards' cruelty, are readyto come over here and throw in their lot with them, it seems tome that it will be but right that you, who are half Dutch and havehad relatives murdered by these fiends, should come over and sidewith the oppressed. If there is fighting at sea, it may be that Imyself will take part with them, and place the Good Venture at theservice of the Prince of Orange. But of that we will talk lateron, as also about yourself. When you are eighteen you will stillbe full young for such work."

As they talked they were walking fast towards Amsterdam. "We willgo straight on board, Ned; and I will not put my foot ashore againbefore we sail. I do not think that I could trust myself to meeta Spaniard now, but should draw my knife and rush upon him. I haveknown that these things happened, we have heard of these dailybutcherings, but it has not come home to me as now, when our ownfriends are the victims."

Entering the gate of the town they made their way straight downto the port, and were soon on board the Good Venture where CaptainMartin retired to his cabin. Ned felt too restless and excited togo down at present; but he told the crew what had happened, andthe exclamations of anger among the honest sailors were loud anddeep. Most of them had sailed with Captain Martin ever since he hadcommanded the Good Venture, and had seen the Plomaerts when theyhad come on board whenever the vessel put in at Amsterdam. The factthat there was nothing to do, and no steps to take to revenge themurders, angered them all the more.

"I would we had twenty ships like our own, Master Ned," one ofthem said. "That would give us four hundred men, and with those wecould go ashore and hang the magistrates and the councillors andall who had a hand in this foul business, and set their publicbuildings in a flame, and then fight our way back again to theport."

"I am afraid four hundred men would not be able to do it here asthey did at Brill. There was no Spanish garrison there, and herethey have a regiment; and though the Spaniards seem to have thehearts of devils rather than men, they can fight."

"Well, we would take our chance," the sailor replied. "If there wasfour hundred of us, and the captain gave the word, we would showthem what English sailors could do, mates -- wouldn't we?"

"Aye, that would we;" the others growled in a chorus.

The next morning the work of unloading began. The sailors workedhard; for, as one of them said, "This place seems to smell of blood-- let's be out of it, mates, as soon as we can." At four in theafternoon a lad of about Ned's age came on board. He was the sonof the merchant to whom the larger part of the cargo of the GoodVenture was consigned.

"I have a letter that my father charged me to give into your hands,Captain Martin. He said that the matter was urgent, and begged meto give it you in your cabin. He also told me to ask when you thinkyour hold will be empty, as he has goods for you for the returnvoyage."

"We shall be well nigh empty by tomorrow night," Captain Martinsaid, as he led the way to his cabin in the poop. "The men havebeen working faster than usual, for it generally takes us threedays to unload."

"I do not think my father cared about that," the lad said when heentered the cabin; "it was but an excuse for my coming down here,and he gave me the message before all the other clerks. But methinksthat the letter is the real object of my coming."

Captain Martin opened the letter. Thanks to his preparation fortaking his place in his father's business, he had learnt to readand write; accomplishments by no means general among sea captainsof the time.

"It is important, indeed," he said, as he glanced through theletter. It ran as follows: "Captain Martin, -- A friend of mine,who is one of the council here, has just told me that at the meetingthis afternoon a denunciation was laid against you for havingpublicly, in the street of Vordwyk, cursed and abused his Majestythe King of Spain, the Duke of Alva, the Spaniards, and the Catholicreligion. Some were of opinion that you should at once be arrestedon board your ship, but others thought that it were better to waitand seize you the first time you came on shore, as it might causetrouble were you taken from under the protection of the Britishflag. On shore, they urged, no question could arise, especiallyas many English have now, although the two nations are at peace,openly taken service under the Prince of Orange.

"I have sent to tell you this, though at no small risk to myselfwere it discovered that I had done so; but as we have had dealingsfor many years together, I think it right to warn you. I may saythat the counsel of those who were for waiting prevailed; but if,after a day or two, they find that you do not come ashore, I fearthey will not hesitate to arrest you on your own vessel. Pleaseto destroy this letter at once after you have read it, and act asseems best to you under the circumstances. I send this to you bymy son's hand, for there are spies everywhere, and in these daysone can trust no one."

"I am much obliged to you, young sir, for bringing me this letter.Will you thank your father from me, and say that I feel deeplyindebted to him, and will think over how I can best escape fromthis strait. Give him the message from me before others, that Ishall be empty and ready to receive goods by noon on the day aftertomorrow."

When the lad had left, Captain Martin called in Ned and WilliamPeters, his first mate, and laid the case before them.

"It is an awkward business, Captain Martin," Peters said. "Yousha'n't be arrested on board the Good Venture, as long as there isa man on board can wield a cutlass; but I don't know whether thatwould help you in the long run.

"Not at all, Peters. We might beat off the first party that cameto take me, but it would not be long before they brought up a forceagainst which we should stand no chance whatever. No, it is not byfighting that there is any chance of escape. It is evident by thisthat I am safe for tomorrow; they will wait at least a day to seeif I go ashore, which indeed they will make certain I shall dosooner or later. As far as my own safety is concerned, and thatof Ned here, who, as he was with me, is doubtless included in thedenunciation, it is easy enough. We have only to get into the boatafter dark, to muffle the oars, and to row for Haarlem, which liesbut ten miles away, and has declared for the Prince of Orange. ButI do not like to leave the ship, for if they found us gone theymight seize and declare it confiscated. And although, when we gotback to England, we might lay a complaint before the queen, therewould be no chance of our getting the ship or her value from theSpaniards. There are so many causes of complaint between the twonations, that the seizure of a brig would make no difference oneway or another. The question is, could we get her out?"

"It would be no easy matter," Peters said, shaking his head. "ThatFrench ship that came in this afternoon has taken up a berth outsideus, and there would be no getting out until she moved out of theway. If she were not there it might be tried, though it would bedifficult to do so without attracting attention. As for the Spanishwar vessels, of which there are four in the port, I should not fearthem if we once got our sails up, for the Venture can sail fasterthan these lubberly Spaniards; but they would send rowboats afterus, and unless the wind was strong these would speedily overhaulus."

"Well, I must think it over," Captain Martin said. "I should besorry indeed to lose my ship, which would be well nigh ruin to me,but if there is no other way we must make for Haarlem by boat."

The next day the work of unloading continued. In the afternoon thecaptain of the French ship lying outside them came on board. He hadbeen in the habit of trading with Holland, and addressed CaptainMartin in Dutch.

"Are you likely to be lying here long?" he asked. "I want to getmy vessel alongside the wharf as soon as I can, for it is slow workunloading into these lighters. There are one or two ships goingout in the morning, but I would rather have got in somewhere aboutthis point if I could, for the warehouses of Mynheer Strous, towhom my goods are consigned, lie just opposite."

"Will you come down into my cabin and have a glass of wine withme," Captain Martin said, "and then we can talk it over?"

Captain Martin discovered, without much trouble, that the Frenchcaptain was a Huguenot, and that his sympathies were all with thepeople of the Netherlands.

"Now," he said, "I can speak freely to you. I was ashore the daybefore yesterday, and learned that my wife's father, her threebrothers, and one of their wives have been murdered by the Spaniards.Well, you can understand that in my grief and rage I cursed theSpaniards and their doings. I have learnt that some spy has denouncedme, and that they are only waiting for me to set foot on shore toarrest me, and you know what will come after that; for at present,owing to the volunteers that have come over to Brill and Flushing,the Spaniards are furious against the English. They would rathertake me on shore than on board, but if they find that I do notland they will certainly come on board for me. They believe that Ishall not be unloaded until noon tomorrow, and doubtlessly expectthat as soon as the cargo is out I shall land to arrange for afreight to England. Therefore, until tomorrow afternoon I am safe,but no longer. Now, I am thinking of trying to get out quietlytonight; but to do so it is necessary that you should shift yourberth a ship's length one way or the other. Will you do this forme?"

"Certainly I will, with pleasure," the captain replied. "I willgive orders at once."

"No, that will never do," Captain Martin said. "They are all themore easy about me because they know that as long as your ship isthere I cannot get out, but if they saw you shifting your berth itwould strike them at once that I might be intending to slip away.You must wait until it gets perfectly dark, and then throw off yourwarps and slacken out your cable as silently as possible, and lether drop down so as to leave me an easy passage. As soon as it isdark I will grease all my blocks, and when everything is quiet tryto get her out. What wind there is is from the southwest, whichwill take us well down the Zuider Zee."

"I hope you may succeed," the French captain said. "Once undersail you would be safe from their warships, for you would be twoor three miles away before they could manage to get up their sails.The danger lies in their rowboats and galleys."

"Well, well, we must risk it," Captain Martin said. "I shall havea boat alongside, and if I find the case is desperate we will taketo it and row to the shore, and make our way to Haarlem, where weshould be safe."

Ned, who had been keeping a sharp lookout all day, observed thattwo Spanish officials had taken up their station on the wharf, notfar from the ship. They appeared to have nothing to do, and to beindifferent to what was going on. He told his father that he thoughtthat they were watching. Presently the merchant himself came downto the wharf. He did not come on board, but spoke to Captain Martinas he stood on the deck of the vessel, so that all around couldhear his words.

"How are you getting on, Captain Martin?" he asked in Dutch.

"Fairly well," Captain Martin replied. "I think if we push on weshall have her empty by noon tomorrow."

"I have a cargo to go back with you, you know," the merchant said,"and I shall want to see you at the office, if you will step roundtomorrow after you have cleared."

"All right, Mynheer, you may expect me about two o'clock.

"But you won't see me," he added to himself.

The merchant waved his hand and walked away, and a few minuteslater the two officials also strolled off.

"That has thrown dust into their eyes," Captain Martin said, "andhas made it safe for Strous. He will pretend to be as surprised asany one when he hears I have gone.

CHAPTER III

A FIGHT WITH THE SPANIARDS

As soon as it became dark, and the wharves were deserted, CaptainMartin sent two sailors aloft with grease pots, with orders thatevery block was to be carefully greased to ensure its runningwithout noise. A boat which rowed six oars was lowered noiselesslyinto the water, and flannel was bound round the oars. The men,who had been aware of the danger that threatened their captain,sharpened the pikes and axes, and declared to each other thatwhether the captain ordered it or not no Spaniards should set footon board as long as one of them stood alive on the decks. The cookfilled a great boiler with water and lighted a fire under it, andthe carpenter heated a caldron of pitch without orders.

"What are you doing, Thompson?" the captain asked, noticing theglow of the fire as he came out of his cabin.

The sailor came aft before he replied, "I am just cooking up alittle hot sauce for the dons, captain. We don't ask them to come,you know; but if they do, it's only right that we should entertainthem."

"I hope there will be no fighting, lad," the captain said.

"Well, your honour, that ain't exactly the wish of me and my mates.After what we have been hearing of, we feel as we sha'n't be happyuntil we have had a brush with them 'ere Spaniards. And as tofighting, your honour; from what we have heard, Captain Hawkins andothers out in the Indian seas have been ashowing them that thoughthey may swagger on land they ain't no match for an Englishman onthe sea. Anyhow, your honour, we ain't going to stand by and seeyou and Master Ned carried away by these 'ere butchering Spaniards.

"We have all made up our minds that what happens to you happens toall of us. We have sailed together in this ship the Good Venturefor the last seventeen or eighteen years, and we means to swimor sink together. No disrespect to you, captain; but that is thefixed intention of all of us. It would be a nice thing for us tosail back to the port of London and say as we stood by and saw ourcaptain and his son carried off to be hung or burnt or what notby the Spaniards, and then sailed home to tell the tale. We don'tmean no disrespect, captain, I says again; but in this 'ere businesswe take our orders from Mr. Peters, seeing that you being consarnedas it were in the affair ain't to be considered as having, so tospeak, a right judgment upon it."

"Well, well, we shall see if there is a chance of making asuccessful fight," Captain Martin said, unable to resist a smileat the sailor's way of putting it.

The night was dark, and the two or three oil lamps that hung suspendedfrom some of the houses facing the port threw no ray of light whichextended to the shipping. It was difficult to make out against thesky the outline of the masts of the French vessel lying some twentyyards away; but presently Ned's attention was called towards herby a slight splash of her cable. Then he heard the low rumble asthe ropes ran out through the hawse holes, and saw that the mastswere slowly moving. In two or three minutes they had disappearedfrom his sight. He went into the cabin.

"The Frenchman has gone, father; and so noiselessly that I couldhardly hear her. If we can get out as quietly there is little fearof our being noticed."

"We cannot be as quiet as that, Ned. She has only to slack awayher cables and drift with the tide that turned half an hour ago,we have got to tow out and set sail. However, the night is dark,the wind is off shore, and everything is in our favour. Do you seeif there be anyone about on the decks of the ships above and belowus.

Ned went first on to the stern, and then to the bow. He couldhear the voices of men talking and singing in the forecastles, butcould hear no movement on the deck of either ship. He went downand reported to his father.

"Then, I think, we may as well start at once, Ned. There arestill sounds and noises in the town, and any noise we may make istherefore less likely to be noticed than if we waited until everythingwas perfectly still."

The sailors were all ready. All were barefooted so as to move asnoiselessly as possible. The four small cannon that the Good Venturecarried had been loaded to the muzzle with bullets and pieces ofiron. A search had been made below and several heavy lumps of stone,a part of the ballast carried on some former occasion, broughtup and placed at intervals along the bulwarks. The pikes had beenfastened by a loose lashing to the mast, and the axes leaned inreadiness against the cannon.

"Now, Peters," Captain Martin said, "let the boat be manned. Do yousend a man ashore to cast off the hawser at the bow. Let him takea line ashore with him so as to ease the hawser off, and not letthe end fall in the water. The moment he has done that let himcome to the stern and get on board there, and do you and he getthe plank on board as noiselessly as you can. As soon as the bowhawser is on board I will give the men in the boat the word torow. Ned will be on board her, and see that they row in the rightdirection. The moment you have got the plank in get out your knifeand cut the stern warp half through, and directly her head is out,and you feel the strain, sever it. The stern is so close to thewharf that the end will not be able to drop down into the waterand make a splash."

Ned's orders were that as soon as the vessel's head pointed seawardhe was to steer rather to the right, so as to prevent the stream,which, however, ran but feebly, from carrying her down on the bowsof the French ship. Once beyond the latter he was to go straightout, steering by the lights on shore. The men were enjoined to droptheir oars as quietly as possible into the water at each stroke,and to row deeply, as having the vessel in tow they would churn upthe water unless they did so. The boat rowed off a stroke or two,and then, as the rope tightened, the men sat quiet until CaptainMartin was heard to give the order to row in a low tone; then theybent to their oars. Peters had chosen the six best rowers on boardthe ship for the purpose, and so quietly did they dip their oarsin the water that Captain Martin could scarce hear the sound, andonly knew by looking over the other side, and seeing that the shorewas receding, that the ship was in motion. Two minutes later Peterscame forward.

"I have cut the warp, Captain Martin, and she is moving out. I haveleft Watson at the helm." Scarce a word was spoken for the nextfive minutes. It was only by looking at the light ashore that theycould judge the progress they were making. Every one breathed morefreely now the first danger was over. They had got out from theirberth without attracting the slightest notice, either from theshore or from the ships lying next to them. Their next danger wasfrom the ships lying at anchor off the port waiting their turn tocome in. Were they to run against one of these, the sound of thecollision, and perhaps the breaking of spars and the shouts of thecrew, would certainly excite attention from the sentries on shore.

So far the boat had been rowing but a short distance in advance ofthe end of the bowsprit, but Captain Martin now made his way outto the end of that spar, and told Ned that he was going to givehim a good deal more rope in order that he might keep well ahead,and that he was to keep a sharp lookout for craft at anchor. Anotherquarter of an hour passed, and Captain Martin thought that theymust now be beyond the line of the outer shipping. They felt thewind more now that they were getting beyond the shelter of thetown, and its effect upon the hull and spars made the work lighterfor those in the boat ahead.

"Now, Peters, I think that we can safely spread the foresail andcall them in from the boat."

The sail had been already loosed and was now let fall; it belliedout at once.

"Haul in the sheets, lads," Captain Martin said, and going forwardgave a low whistle. A minute later the boat was alongside. "Lether drop astern, Peters," the captain said, as Ned and the rowersclambered on board; "we may want her presently. Hullo! what's that?It's one of the guard boats, I do believe, and coming this way."The men heard the sound of coming oars, and silently stole to themast and armed themselves with the pikes, put the axes in theirbelts, and ranged themselves along by the side of the ship towardswhich the boat was approaching. "Will she go ahead of us or astern?"Captain Martin whispered to the mate.

"I cannot tell yet, sir. By the sound she seems making pretty nearlystraight for us."

In another minute the mate whispered, "She will go astern of us,sir, but not by much."

"I trust that she will not see us," the captain said. "But now weare away from the town and the lights, it doesn't seem so dark,besides their eyes are accustomed to it."

There was dead silence in the ship as the boat approached. She wasjust passing the stern at the distance of about a ship's length,when there was a sudden exclamation, and a voice shouted, "Whatship is that? Where are you going?" Captain Martin replied in Dutch."We are taking advantage of the wind to make to sea."

"Down with that sail, sir!" the officer shouted: "this is againstall regulations. No ship is permitted to leave the port betweensunrise and sunset. Pull alongside, lads; there is something strangeabout this!"

"Do not come alongside," Captain Martin said sternly. "We arepeaceable traders who meddle with no one, but if you interfere withus it will be the worse for you."

Those on board saw six tiny sparks appear, two in the bow and fourin the stern. A minute later the boat dashed alongside. As it didso three great pieces of stone were cast into it, knocking downtwo of the rowers.

"Fire!" the officer exclaimed as he sprang up to climb the ship'sside. The six muskets were discharged, and the men rose to followtheir leader, when there was a cry from the rowers "The boat issinking! She is staved in!"

At the same moment the officer fell back thrust through with a pike.Two of the soldiers were cut down with axes, the other sprang backinto the sinking boat, which at once drifted astern.

"Up with her sails, lads!" Captain Martin shouted; "it is a questionof speed now. The alarm is spread on shore already." The sentriesof the various batteries were discharging their muskets and shouting,and the roll of a drum was heard almost immediately. The crew soonhad every stitch of sail set upon the brig. She was moving steadilythrough the water; but the wind was still light, although occasionallya stronger puff gave ground for hope that it would ere long blowharder.

"They will be some time before they make out what it is all about,Peters," Captain Martin said. "The galleys will be manned, and willrow to the spot where the firing was heard. Some of the men in theboat are sure to be able to swim, and will meet them as they comeout and tell them what has happened. The worst of it is, the moonwill be up in a few minutes. I forgot all about that. That accountsfor its being lighter. However, we have got a good start. One ortwo guard boats may be out here in a quarter of an hour, but itwill take the galleys twice as long to gather their crews and getout. It all depends on the wind. It is lucky it is not light yet,or the batteries might open on us; I don't think now they will getsight of us until we are fairly out of range."

Now that there was no longer occasion for silence on board the GoodVenture, the crew laughed and joked at the expense of the Spaniards.They were in high spirits at their success, and their only regretwas that the brush with their pursuers had not been a more seriousone. It was evident from the talk that there was quite as much hopeas fear in the glances that they cast astern, and that they wouldhave been by no means sorry to see a foe of about their own strengthin hot pursuit of them. A quarter of an hour after the shatteredboat had dropped astern the moon rose on the starboard bow. It wasthree-quarters full, and would assuredly reveal the ship to thoseon shore. Scarcely indeed did it show above the horizon when therewas the boom of a gun astern, followed a second or two later by aheavy splash in the water close alongside.

"That was a good shot," Captain Martin said; "but luck rather thanskill I fancy. There is little chance of their hitting us at thisdistance. We must be a mile and a half away; don't you think so,Peters?"

"Quite that, captain; and they must have given their gun a lot ofelevation to carry so far. I almost wonder they wasted their powder."

"Of course they can't tell in the least who they are firing at,"the captain said. "They cannot have learnt anything yet, and canhave only known that there was firing off the port, and that acraft is making out. We may be one of the sea beggars' vessels foranything they know, and may have come in to carry off a prize fromunder their very noses."

"That is so," the mate replied; "but the gun may have been firedas a signal as much as with any hope of hitting us."

"So it may, so it may, Peters; I did not think of that. Certainlythat is likely enough. We know they have several ships cruising inthe Zuider Zee keeping a lookout for the beggars. On a night likethis, and with the wind astern, the sound will be heard miles away.We may have trouble yet. I was not much afraid of the galleys, forthough the wind is so light we are running along famously. You seewe have nothing in our hold, and that is all in our favour so longas we are dead before the wind. Besides, if the galleys did comeup it would probably be singly, and we should be able to beat themoff, for high out of water as we are they would find it difficultto climb the sides; but if we fall in with any of their ships itis a different matter altogether."

Four or five more shots were fired, but they all fell astern; andas they were fully two miles and a half away when the last gun wasdischarged, and the cannoneers must have known that they were farout of range, Captain Martin felt sure that the mate's idea was acorrect one, and that the cannon had been discharged rather as asignal than with any hope of reaching them.

"Ned, run up into the foretop," the captain said, "and keep asharp lookout ahead. The moon has given an advantage to those whoare on our track behind, but it gives us an advantage as againstany craft there may be ahead of us. We shall see them long beforethey can see us."

Peters had been looking astern when the last gun was fired, andsaid that by its flash he believed that he had caught sight of threecraft of some kind or other outside the ships moored off the port.

"Then we have two miles' start if those are their galleys," thecaptain said. "We are stealing through the water at about the rateof four knots, and perhaps they may row six, so it will take theman hour to come up."

"Rather more than that, I should say, captain, for the wind at timesfreshens a little. It is likely to be an hour and a half beforethey come up."

"All the better, Peters. They will have learnt from those theypicked up from that boat that we are not a large craft, and thatour crew probably does not exceed twenty men; therefore, as thosegalleys carry about twenty soldiers besides the twenty rowers, theywill not think it necessary to keep together, but will each do hisbest to overtake us. One of them is sure to be faster than theothers, and if they come up singly I think we shall be able tobeat them off handsomely. It is no use discussing now whether itis wise to fight or not. By sinking that first boat we have allput our heads in a noose, and there is no drawing back. We haverepulsed their officers with armed force, and there will be nomercy for any of us if we fall into their hands."

"We shall fight all the better for knowing that," Peters saidgrimly. "The Dutchmen are learning that, as the Spaniards are findingto their cost. There is nothing like making a man fight than theknowledge that there is a halter waiting for him if he is beaten."

"You had better get two of the guns astern, Peters, so as to firedown into them as they come up. You may leave the others, one oneach side, for the present, and run one of them over when we seewhich side they are making for. Ah! that's a nice little puff. Ifit would but hold like that we should show them our heels altogether."

In two or three minutes the puff died out and the wind fell evenlighter than before.

"I thought that we were going to have more of it," the captain saiddiscontentedly; "it looked like it when the sun went down."

"I think we shall have more before morning," Peters agreed; "butI am afraid it won't come in time to help us much."

As the moon rose they were able to make out three craft astern ofthem. Two were almost abreast of each other, the third some littledistance behind.

"That is just what I expected, Peters; they are making a race ofit. We shall have two of them on our hands at once; the other willbe too far away by the time they come up to give them any assistance.They are about a mile astern now, I should say, and unless the windfreshens up a bit they will be alongside in about twenty minutes.I will give you three men here, Peters. As soon as we have firedload again, and then slew the guns round and run them forward tothe edge of the poop, and point them down into the waist. If theSpaniards get on board and we find them too strong for us, thoseof us who can will take to the forecastle, the others will run uphere. Then sweep the Spaniards with your guns, and directly youhave fired charge down among them with pike and axe. We will dothe same, and it is hard if we do not clear the deck of them."

Just at this moment Ned hailed them from the top. "There is a shipnearly ahead of us, sir; she is lying with her sails brailed up,evidently waiting."

"How far is she off, do you think, Ned?"

"I should say she is four miles away," Ned replied.

"Well, we need not trouble about her for the present; there willbe time to think about her when we have finished with these fellowsbehind. You can come down now, Ned."

In a few words the captain now explained his intentions to his men.

"I hope, lads, that we shall be able to prevent their gettinga footing on the deck; but if they do, and we find we can't beatthem back, as soon as I give the word you are to take either tothe forecastle or to the poop. Mr. Peters will have the two gunsthere ready to sweep them with bullets. The moment he has fired givea cheer and rush down upon them from both sides. We will clear themoff again, never fear. Ned, you will be in charge in the waist untilI rejoin you. Get ready to run one of the guns over the instant Itell you on which side they are coming up. Depress them as much asyou can. I shall take one gun and you take the other, and be sureyou don't fire until you see a boat well under the muzzle of yourgun. Mind it's the boat you are to aim at, and not the men."

Captain Martin again ascended to the poop and joined Peters. Thetwo boats were now but a few hundred yards astern, and they couldhear the officers cheering on the rowers to exert themselves tothe utmost. The third boat was fully a quarter of a mile behindthe leaders. When they approached within a hundred yards a fire ofmusketry was opened.

"Lie down under the bulwarks, men," Captain Martin said to the threesailors. "It is no use risking your lives unnecessarily. I expectone boat will come one side and one the other, Peters. If they dowe will both take the one coming up on the port side. One of usmay miss, and it is better to make sure of one boat if we can. Ithink we can make pretty sure of beating off the other. Yes, therethey are separating. Now work your gun round a bit, so that itbears on a point about twenty yards astern and a boat's length onthe port side. I will do the same. Have you done that?"

"Yes, I think I have about got it, sir."

"Very well, then. Stoop down now, or we may get hit before it istime to fire."

The bulwarks round the poop were only about a foot high, but sittingback from them the captain and the mate were protected from thebullets that were now singing briskly over the stern of the ship.

"They are coming up, Peters," Captain Martin said. "Now kneelup and look along your gun; get your match ready, and do not firetill you see right into the boat, then clap on your match whetherI fire or not."

The boat came racing along until when within some twenty yards ofthe stern, the cannons were discharged almost simultaneously. Thesound was succeeded by a chorus of screams and yells; the contentsof both guns had struck the boat fairly midships, and she sankalmost instantly. As soon as they had fired Captain Martin ranforward and joined the crew in the waist. He had already passedthe word to Ned to get both guns over to the starboard side, andhe at once took charge of one while Ned stood at the other. TheSpaniards had pushed straight on without waiting to pick up theirdrowning comrades in the other boat, and in a minute were alongside.So close did the helmsman bring the boat to the side that the gunscould not be depressed so as to bear upon her, and a moment laterthe Spaniards were climbing up the sides of the vessel, the rowersdropping their oars and seizing axes and joining the soldiers.

"Never mind the gun, Ned; it is useless at present. Now, lads,drive them back as they come up."

With pike and hatchet the sailors met the Spaniards as they triedto climb up. The cook had brought his caldron of boiling water tothe bulwarks, and threw pailful after pailful down into the boat,while the carpenter bailed over boiling pitch with the great ladle.Terrible yells and screams rose from the boat, and the soldiers invain tried to gain a footing upon the ship's deck. As they appearedabove the level of the bulwarks they were met either with thrustof pike or with a crashing blow from an axe, and it was but threeor four minutes from the moment that the fight began that the boatcast off and dropped behind, more than half those on board beingkilled or disabled. A loud cheer broke from the crew.

"Shall I run the guns back to the stern again," Peters asked fromabove, "and give them a parting dose?"

"No, no," Captain Martin said, "let them go, Peters; we are fightingto defend ourselves, and have done them mischief enough. See whatthe third boat is doing, though."

"They have stopped rowing," Peters said, after going to the stern."I think they are picking up some swimmers from the boat we sank.There cannot be many of them, for most of the rowers would havebeen killed by our discharges, and the soldiers in their armourwill have sunk at once."

Captain Martin now ascended to the poop. In a short time the boatjoined that which had dropped astern, which was lying helpless inthe water, no attempt having been made to man the oars, as most ofthe unwounded men were scalded more or less severely. Their reportwas evidently not encouraging, and the third boat made no attemptto pursue. Some of her oarsmen were shifted to the other boat, andtogether they turned and made back for Amsterdam.

"Now then for this vessel ahead," Captain Martin said; "that is amuch more serious business than the boats."

The vessel, which was some two miles ahead of them, had now setsome of her sails, and was heading towards them.

"They can make us out now plainly enough, Peters, and the firingwill of course have told them we are the vessel that they are insearch of. I don't think that there is any getting away from them."

"I don't see that there is," the mate agreed. "Whichever way weedged off they could cut us off. The worst of it is, no doubt shehas got some big guns on board, and these little things of ours areof no good except at close quarters. It would be no use trying tomake a running fight with her?"

"Not in the least, Peters. We had better sail straight at her."

"You don't mean to try and carry her by boarding?" Peters askeddoubtfully. "She looks a large ship, and has perhaps a hundred andfifty men on board; and though the Spaniards are no sailors theycan fight on the decks of their ships."

"That is so, Peters. What I think of doing is to bear straightdown upon her as if I intended to board. We shall have to stand onebroadside as we come up, and then we shall be past her, and withour light draught we should run right away from her with this wind.There is more of it than there was, and we are slipping away fast.Unless she happens to knock away one of our masts we shall get awayfrom her."

When they were within half a mile of the Spanish ship they saw herbows bear off.

"Lie down, lads," the captain ordered, "she is going to give us abroadside. When it is over start one of those sea beggar songs youpicked up at Brill; that will startle them, and they will think weare crowded with men and going to board them."

A minute later eight flashes of fire burst from the Spanish ship,now lying broadside to them. One shot crashed through the bulwarks,two others passed through the sails, the rest went wide of theirmark. As soon as it was over the crew leapt to their feet and burstinto one of the wild songs sung by the sea beggars.

"Keep our head straight towards her, Peters," Captain Martin said."They will think we mean to run her down, and it will flurry andconfuse them."

Loading was not quick work in those days, and the distance betweenthe vessels was decreased by half before the guns were again fired.This time it was not a broadside; the guns went off one by one asthey were loaded, and the aim was hasty and inaccurate, for closeas they were not a shot struck the hull of the Good Venture, thoughtwo or three went through the sails. In the bright moonlight mencould be seen running about and officers waving their arms and givingorders on board the Spaniard, and then her head began to pay off.

"We have scared them," Captain Martin laughed. "They thought we weregoing to run them down. They know the sea beggars would be quitecontent to sink themselves if they could sink an enemy. Followclose in her wake, Peters, and then bear off a little as if youmeant to pass them on their starboard side; then when you get closegive her the helm sharp and sweep across her stern. We will giveher the guns as we pass, then bear off again and pass her on herport side; the chances are they will not have loaded again there."

The Spanish ship was little more than a hundred yards ahead. Whenshe got before the wind again Captain Martin saw with satisfactionthat the Good Venture sailed three feet to her two. The poop andstern galleries of the Spaniard were clustered with soldiers, whoopened a fire with their muskets upon their pursuer. The men wereall lying down now at their guns, which were loaded with musketballs to their muzzles.

"Elevate them as much as you can. She is much higher out of thewater than we are. Now, Peters, you see to the guns, I will takethe helm."

"I will keep the helm, sir," the mate replied.

"No, you won't, Peters; my place is the place of danger. But ifyou like you can lie under the bulwark there after you have fired,and be ready to take my place if you see me drop. Now, lads, getready."

So saying the captain put down the tiller. The Good Venture sweptround under the stern of the Spaniard at a distance of some fortyyards, and as she did so the guns loaded with bullets to themuzzle were fired one after the other. The effect was terrible,and the galleries and poop were swept by the leaden shower. Thenthe captain straightened the helm again. The crew burst into thewild yells and cries the beggars raised when going into battle. TheSpaniards, confused by the terrible slaughter worked by the gunsof their enemies, and believing that they were about to be boardedon the port side by a crowd of desperate foemen, hastily put upthe tiller, and the ship bore away as the Good Venture swept up,presenting her stern instead of her broadside to them.

To the momentary relief of the Spaniards their assailant insteadof imitating their maneuvers kept straight upon her course beforethe wind, and instead of the wild cries of the beggars a heartyEnglish cheer was raised. As Captain Martin had expected, the gunson the port side had not been reloaded after the last discharge,and the Good Venture was two or three hundred yards away beforethe Spaniards recovered from their surprise at what seemed theincomprehensible maneuver of their foes, and awoke to the factthat they had been tricked, and that instead of a ship crowded withbeggars of the sea their supposed assailant had been an Englishtrader that was trying to escape from them.

A dozen contradictory orders were shouted as soon as the truthdawned upon them. The captain had been killed by the discharge ofgrape, and the first lieutenant severely wounded. The officer incommand of the troops shouted to his men to load the guns, only tofind when this was accomplished that the second lieutenant of theship had turned her head in pursuit of the enemy, and that not asingle gun would bear. There was a sharp altercation between thetwo authorities, but the military chief was of the highest rank.

"Don't you see," he said furiously, "that she is going away fromus every foot. She was but a couple of hundred yards away when Igave the order to load, and now she is fully a quarter of a mile."

"If I put the helm down to bring her broadside on," the seamansaid, "she will be half a mile ahead before we can straighten upand get in her wake again; and unless you happen to cripple hershe will get away to a certainty."

The order was given and the ship's head swayed round. There was aflapping of sails and a rattling of blocks, and then a broadsidewas fired; but it is no easy matter for angry and excited men tohit a mast at the distance of nearly half a mile. One of the shotsploughed up the deck within a yard of the foot of the mainmast,another splintered a boat, three others added to the holes in thesails, but no damage of importance was done. By the time the Spaniardhad borne round and was again in chase, the Good Venture was overhalf a mile ahead.

"It is all over now, captain," Peters said as he went aft. "Unlesswe light upon another of these fellows, which is not likely, weare safe."

"Are any of the men hit, Peters?"

"The carpenter was knocked down and stunned by a splinter from theboat, sir; but I don't think it is serious."

"Thank God for that," the captain said. "Now, will you take thehelm?" There was something in the voice that startled the mate.

"Is anything the matter, sir? Don't say you are hit."

"I am hit, Peters, and I fear rather badly; but that matters littlenow that the crew and ship are safe."

Peters caught the captain, for he saw that he could scarce stand,and called two men to his assistance. The captain was laid down onthe deck.

"Where are you hit, sir?"

"Halfway between the knee and the hip," Captain Martin repliedfaintly. "If it hadn't been for the tiller I should have fallen,but with the aid of that I made shift to stand on the other leg. Itwas just before we fired, at the moment when I put the helm down."